The subject matter disclosed herein relates to turbomachinery, and more particularly, to monitoring turbine performance.
In power generation systems, turbines, such as gas turbines, or steam turbines, may convert fuel and air (e.g., an oxidant) into rotational energy. For example, a gas turbine may compress the air, via a compressor, and mix the compressed air with the fuel to form an air-fuel mixture. A combustor of the gas turbine may then combust the air-fuel mixture and use energy from the combustion process to rotate one or more turbine blades, thereby generating rotational energy. The rotational energy may then be converted into electricity, via a generator, to be provided to a power grid, a vehicle, or another load.
During operation, a ratio between the air and the fuel entering the gas turbine may be controlled to balance performance and emissions. If the gas turbine operates at a point where the ratio includes more air and/or less fuel than desired (i.e. the gas turbine operates too lean), then there is an increased likelihood of what is referred to as a lean blowout (LBO) where the combustor stops firing, thereby resulting in an outage. Further, during the lean blowout, the engine may be restarted to begin operating again, resulting in customers without power during the restart.